Norwegian Dawn

Lauren Christiana

Age: 23

Occupation:Pharmaceuticals

Number of Cruises: 1

Cruise Line: Norwegian

Ship: Norwegian Dawn

Sailing Date: May 6th, 2006

Itinerary: Cruise to Nowhere

I purchased this “Cruise to
Nowhere” as a gift for my mother, and what I had hoped would
be a very memorable and relaxing trip for both of us. I also
purchased this cruise as I was planning on purchasing two
family cruises to the Caribbean within the next year, as
well as plan a wedding on a cruise ship. I am glad I made
this decision, as reserving long vacations and a wedding
would have been a huge mistake, waste of money, and
disappointment.

My mother and I entered the ship with a very positive
attitude and open minds. We did not know what to expect as
we’ve never been on a cruise before, but we’ve heard
wonderful things. We were excited upon entering the ship and
felt it would be all we hoped for. I’m writing this review
for other consumers so they do not have to experience what
we have.

We reserved a balcony room. I wouldn’t suggest reserving
anything smaller because this room was comfortable for a
maximum of two people. The balcony was a very nice touch,
and I would say well worth the money. The décor is a little
on the tacky side, however, what I had typically expected.
Everything seemed to be going well until we had a Safety
Drill. Everyone was required to learn how to use safety
vests and report to a certain deck. At this time, we
overheard other passengers talking about dinner
reservations. We did not know we needed reservations as
“Freestyle Dining” is what seems to be advertised, which
would lead you to believe you can eat at any time. Upon
hearing this, we decided to go check out the restaurants and
make reservations to be safe. We went to their steakhouse,
Cagney’s. We were told, with about 5 other couples, that
they had been booked for the entire night. One of the other
cruisers advised us that all of the restaurants had been
already booked too. They were upset as it was their wedding
anniversary and they couldn’t even find a place to eat for
dinner. (Please keep in mind we were told we could only
boarded the ship between 2:00pm-3:00pm, and it was literally
2:20pm) I questioned how all of these reservations could
have been made, thinking I missed something and we could
have called in advance or done it on the website. I was told
“certain” cruisers were able to board as early as 12:00 and
made the reservations then. I then questioned how these
people could board as early as we were not given that
option. About 8 of us stood there and instead of answering
any questions they decided to “squeeze” us into the
restaurant at opening time, 5:30. I still wonder how these
people made all of these reservations or got on the ship so
early. Regardless, we accepted the reservation.

We then decided to take a walk outside on the pool deck. I
was shocked that there was only one public pool, and it was
extremely small. It was definitely not the type of pool that
should be available for thousands of cruisers. The entire
pool area and bar was crowded and uncomfortable. I couldn’t
imagine being on a longer cruise with these type of
amenities. This was definitely not an environment of
children or anyone elderly. We sat and had a couple of
drinks and tried to ignore the “Spring Break” environment
surrounding us.

We went to dinner and were seated in a nice area overlooking
the water. The restaurant was empty for our entire dinner,
and left me wondering how they had no reservations
available. I can’t imagine that many people did not show up.
The service was poor as no one refilled our drinks and we
weren’t even given dinner menus for about 20 minutes. We
both ordered steaks and sides. Lobster was not available
among other things. I can’t say we enjoyed the food and I
could have had much better in a local restaurant. The desert
was also not good. The only thing good on the ship seemed to
be drinks. I was shocked as I always heard others rave about
the food on cruise ships. We also tried the Blue Lagoon and
a couple buffets. All that seemed available was hamburgers,
hot dogs, dried and bad looking cold cuts, and salad. We
still stayed positive and tried to make the best of our
experience.

The rest of the night was ok, I’ve seen some describe the
quality of entertainment as Vegas style shows, I’d say it
was more so that of Atlantic City, NJ. It seemed everything
was over crowded and the only people truly enjoying
themselves were obnoxiously drunk and unaware of their
surroundings. I was surprised at the lack of free food, as I
was under the impression most was included. They nickel and
dime you for everything, cover charges for restaurants,
service charges, and gratuity automatically charges to your
account. If I would have known the amount we would spend on
top of the price of the cruise itself, I wouldn’t have gone.
It was a waste of money. For one night it totaled around
$900, and we didn’t participate in half of the activities or
go shopping. We had a total of 5-6 drinks together.

Still, by this point we stayed positive and felt the
experience was ok. This was until we decided to back to our
room and go to sleep.

Upon pulling the sheets down to get into bed, we saw
glitter, sequence, and hair all over our sheets. I was quite
disgusted. It looked as if someone slept in our bed and they
didn’t bother to change the sheets. I called downstairs to
customer service and requested a change of bed linens. They
told me they would be up shortly. We sat on a very small
couch and waited. An hour passed and I called the customer
service line again wondering when we could expect a change
of sheets. They told me the request was never made. I
insisted I called an hour ago, and was told that the girl in
the earlier shift must have not written it down. They told
me someone would be up shortly (again.) Another 30 minutes
went by, and the customer service line called me. They said
the request could not be made because we had turned our
outside dial as “Do not disturb.” I insisted we did not
touch it the entire night. I said I made this request an
hour and a half ago, why am I just now receiving this call
if it was a problem. She responded “Well are you going to
change the sign or not?” Before this point, I was calm and
very open minded about everything. However, I was shocked by
the attitude and response from an employee, never mind
customer service. I told her I will change it, but I think I
should have been called earlier, and they should not take a
sign as seriously as anyone outside of your room can change
it, including the hundreds of kids running up and down the
halls. She then hung up on me. I called back and asked to
speak with a supervisor or someone in charge. I was told she
was in charge and there was no one else to speak with. I
said ok, and requested her name. She hung up on me, AGAIN!
By this point I was furious. I worked in customer service
for years when I was younger and never experienced or
witnessed something like this in my life. I walked
downstairs to the desk and stood on line with about twenty
other cruisers with complaints. Many complaints consisted of
room keys not working and dirty !
rooms.

In fact, as I
waited, I watched the customer service woman receive four
calls regarding a change of sheets, and she responded saying
their “Do Not Disturb” sign was also on and it is why they
didn’t receive the service for hours. They had a total of
two women at this main desk. They should have had more
employees available to fulfill requests. But more
importantly, their employees should be trained on how to
respond to requests and talk to consumers. We all waited on
line as they answered the phones and ignored the line of
people. One man commented “I would have been better off
going up to my room and calling” and another woman said “No,
I tried calling for two hours and they don’t answer” so I
chimed in and said “Well, I got through, and they hung up on
me!” I was shocked. I couldn’t believe this is what a cruise
was like. Five of us discussed we had never been on a
cruise, and now we most likely wouldn’t want to, especially
with Norwegian. When I finally got to the desk, I said I
would like to speak with a supervisor or fill out a customer
complaint form. She asked why. I told her I made a request
for a change of sheets, and I was hung up on twice. She told
me “You were not hung up on.” I said “So I’m a liar now? I
walked down here to make this up?” She told me I am a liar,
and that no one hung up on me, and to go back to my room. I
requested a complaint form, and she slammed a piece of
Norwegian stationary on the counter. I wrote down her name
and plan on contacting their corporate office about this
rude, unprofessional, and obnoxious employee. As I would
hope, this is not the type of individual they want
representing their corporation.

I understand you can’t judge an entire corporation by one
employee. However, I can judge the corporation by the fact
this is the person they leave in charge of thousands of
passenger requests. This is their lead customer service
representative. I wanted this trip to be something special
for my mother, and it was nothing but a headache and waste
of money.

The food was horrible, the additional charges were
ridiculous, and the service was shocking. I would not
recommend cruising with Norwegian to anyone. I’m going to
try Royal Caribbean or Princess as I’ve heard better things
about them.